Berra......

[Bazzas right boot]

1 hour ago, pointon said:

Not the best timeline description but he has been toiling for a longtime he has been a good servant for the club now a liability 

 

Yeah he did toil , the whole team toiled last season imo tho. 

 

New manager, clean slate this season for everyone imo. 

 

[Bazzas right boot]

47 minutes ago, Holyrood_Hearts said:

Tbh I’d rather play Haring, Kingsley or Smith at CB than play Berra

 

I would rather not Tbh. 

How good is Kingsley at Cb, you seem him play  much there? 

[Holyrood_Hearts]

23 minutes ago, Smith's right boot said:

 

I would rather not Tbh. 

How good is Kingsley at Cb, you seem him play  much there? 

I haven’t seen much of him at CB, however that’s irrelevant.

 

My point was only incase of an injury crisis and we had Souttar, Halkett &/or Popescu out, I’d select Smith, Haring then Kingsley ahead of Berra, based purely in my opinion he hasn’t been the same player since the injury & his performances have reflected this. He’s not good enough to be considered first team level. 

I’ve just seen your reply to another post talking about the team toiling last season & of course you’re right. Berra (along with the goalkeepers-especially Pereira) were the biggest problems in our defence. If he wasn’t scoring OG’s, he was making mistakes that ultimately led to goals

[jambonian]

4 hours ago, skinnybob72 said:

John McGinn played for St Mirren a while back - would you take him now? We can't just rule out signings because they play for / have played for 'diddy' clubs. We should be picking up the better players from the likes of St Mirren and hoping they improve with better player around them (the theory being we really ought to have better players than St Mirren...)

 

I said when John McGinn was at St Mirren he was by far their best player and Hearts should went for him before that lot. I remember i was fuming when i heard they'd signed him. It was at a time when Hibs and Aberdeen were signing players that impressed me when individuals played against us at Tynecastle. Players that would've improved our squad massively but certain folk at the club couldn't, or wouldn't see what was right in front of them. No, we'd sign Cole Stocktons and Ross Callaghans and "projects". So to answer your question, yes, of course i would like to have seen McGinn at Hearts. 

Your other point "we should be picking up the better players from the likes of St Mirren". Absolutely, been saying that for years, even more so in recent years. But we haven't been for the reasons already stated. If there's any more Colin Camerons at Raith or Neil McCanns at Dundee then we should at least offer an alternative to the likes of Hibs and Aberdeen. Even Motherwell are at it now. Really liked O'Donnell in that Kilmarnock team.

Regarding Popescu...the question is, would i have been fuming if he had gone to Hibs? Absolutely not, and that's the difference. McGinn dominated games so he stood out. Popescu...i couldn't even really remember him playing for St Mirren in all honesty. Maybe the name during a commentary but nothing that was particularly noticeable. Not saying he won't/can't do a job but long-term we have to look at better options.

 

[pointon]

2 hours ago, CJGJ said:

Perhaps you could tell us how he is a liability ?...it is more or less agreed he is part of the squad as cover and we would need to pay someone else to do that job with no guarantees they would be any better.

 

Sad little post just trying to put the boot in

Not putting the boot just relaying what I have seen with my own eyes all about opinions 

[jambonian]

4 hours ago, Smith's right boot said:

 

Every post from him makes little sense Tbh. 

 

 

 

Well...at least my posts are up to be debated and conversed about and not put downs to try to make me feel better about myself. 

[Bazzas right boot]

1 hour ago, Holyrood_Hearts said:

I haven’t seen much of him at CB, however that’s irrelevant.

 

My point was only incase of an injury crisis and we had Souttar, Halkett &/or Popescu out, I’d select Smith, Haring then Kingsley ahead of Berra, based purely in my opinion he hasn’t been the same player since the injury & his performances have reflected this. He’s not good enough to be considered first team level. 

I’ve just seen your reply to another post talking about the team toiling last season & of course you’re right. Berra (along with the goalkeepers-especially Pereira) were the biggest problems in our defence. If he wasn’t scoring OG’s, he was making mistakes that ultimately led to goals

 

 

It's irrelevant how good a player is that you would rather play over Berra...? 

 

Never even read the rest. 

 

Have a good day. 

[Holyrood_Hearts]

24 minutes ago, Smith's right boot said:

 

 

It's irrelevant how good a player is that you would rather play over Berra...? 

 

Never even read the rest. 

 

Have a good day. 

Good chat 

[jr ewing]

Taking players out of their best position has always made us weaker elsewhere. 

[Bazzas right boot]

2 hours ago, jambonian said:

 

Well...at least my posts are up to be debated and conversed about and not put downs to try to make me feel better about myself. 

 

 

Fair enough, you are very cordial. 

Appoligies if you felt put down, sometimes I get genuine concerns mixed up with folk being complete slavering idiots on here. 

 

 

 

 

[jambonian]

16 hours ago, Smith's right boot said:

 

 

Fair enough, you are very cordial. 

Appoligies if you felt put down, sometimes I get genuine concerns mixed up with folk being complete slavering idiots on here. 

 

 

 

 

 

...and you should know that more than most.

[droid]

20 hours ago, jambonian said:

 

I said when John McGinn was at St Mirren he was by far their best player and Hearts should went for him before that lot. I remember i was fuming when i heard they'd signed him. It was at a time when Hibs and Aberdeen were signing players that impressed me when individuals played against us at Tynecastle. Players that would've improved our squad massively but certain folk at the club couldn't, or wouldn't see what was right in front of them. No, we'd sign Cole Stocktons and Ross Callaghans and "projects". So to answer your question, yes, of course i would like to have seen McGinn at Hearts. 

Your other point "we should be picking up the better players from the likes of St Mirren". Absolutely, been saying that for years, even more so in recent years. But we haven't been for the reasons already stated. If there's any more Colin Camerons at Raith or Neil McCanns at Dundee then we should at least offer an alternative to the likes of Hibs and Aberdeen. Even Motherwell are at it now. Really liked O'Donnell in that Kilmarnock team.

Regarding Popescu...the question is, would i have been fuming if he had gone to Hibs? Absolutely not, and that's the difference. McGinn dominated games so he stood out. Popescu...i couldn't even really remember him playing for St Mirren in all honesty. Maybe the name during a commentary but nothing that was particularly noticeable. Not saying he won't/can't do a job but long-term we have to look at better options.

 

Neilson was said to want him before he went to hibs but baulked at the fee for a relatively untested player. 
 

[Bazzas right boot]

2 hours ago, jambonian said:

 

...and you should know that more than most.

 

There goes the cordial out the window, I don't feel so bad now for calling you out for  posting absolute tripe. 

 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2020 by Smith's right boot

[Bazzas right boot]

22 hours ago, jambonian said:

 

Well...at least my posts are up to be debated and conversed about and not put downs to try to make me feel better about myself. 

 

2 hours ago, jambonian said:

 

...and you should know that more than most.

 

The moral high ground has been lost. 

 

 

[Bazzas right boot]

1 hour ago, droid said:

Neilson was said to want him before he went to hibs but baulked at the fee for a relatively untested player. 
 

 

 

As did another 1000 + managers, Hindsight, eh? 

[tartofmidlothian]

It was the first game I've not seen in a while tonight, how did he do?

[Cruyff]

Just now, tartofmidlothian said:

It was the first game I've not seen in a while tonight, how did he do?

He did fine. 

[tartofmidlothian]

1 minute ago, Cruyff said:

He did fine. 

 

Good stuff. I know he seems finished at the top level, but it'd be a fitting send-off if he can help us to the title this season as part of our first XI.

[heartsfc_fan]

4 minutes ago, tartofmidlothian said:

It was the first game I've not seen in a while tonight, how did he do?

Ok. Apart from a small wobbly in the second half that we recovered from not much else to report.

[Georgecowie]

Berra clean sheet has a nice ring to it. Personally hope I witness plenty more of those this season. A word for Craig Gordon. Quiet game but what a joy to have him back between the sticks. 

[Uncle Buck]

Thought he looked a lot more solid tonight. Probably helps with Gordon.

 

Tried to keep the ball on the deck, even if his passing wasn’t the best.

[JyTees]

Let's not get overly excited at Berra keeping a clean sheet against Alloa. Untested defensively. Absolutely atrocious distribution. Barely good enough at this level.

 

Like to see us bring a central defender in January. Popescu nowhere near good enough either.

 

[stevie]

Gave the ball away too often,doesn’t instil confidence.

[gashauskis9]

Skipper looked more like himself last night.  Won pretty much everything in the air and kept it simple on the deck.  He only took the periscope out a couple of times to be fair.  
 

 

[KyleLafferty]

Berra barely gave the ball away last night stop talking nonsense 😂. He barely hoofed it as well so clearly been told. I’m not a fan of his anymore, but we looked more solid, especially in the air.

[Lfhearts]

He is far better than Popescu even at this stage in his career.

[theshed]

I think most people can agree he looked fine but let’s not forget the reason for that was he was up against Alloa....I will wait and see what he’s like when he’s put under some pressure before I can relax a bit more 

[Henry. Henry.]

Think that’s 6 Championship clean sheets in a row for Berra now if you count his games for Dundee February into March. 

[milky_26]

He needs to realise that he does not need to get to every header first when the ball is in the middle of the park. There were a number of times he tried to get in front of the attacker and the ball went over his head

[A_A wehatethehibs]

Played 90 ☑️

Clean sheet ☑️

Win ☑️

 

For an old soldier, centre half, former Hearts captain playing his first league start after injury, that's only the 3 boxes that matter ticked isn't it. 

 

 

Neilson's comment: "It was good to get Christophe Berra back. He has a huge role to play here, he brings physicality and he is a talker which you need." If you go and ask anyone who has ever played in a back 4 at any level: this comment reveals a massive aspect of the game which is invisible literally, although the one thing I have enjoyed about the empty parks is being able to hear the shouts. 

 

[gashauskis9]

1 minute ago, theshed said:

I think most people can agree he looked fine but let’s not forget the reason for that was he was up against Alloa....I will wait and see what he’s like when he’s put under some pressure before I can relax a bit more 

It doesn’t matter who he was up against.  Most games this season will be like last night.  Outside of a couple of teams, the rest are seasoned at this level, so last night was a good benchmark to measure us against.  

[A_A wehatethehibs]

2 minutes ago, milky_26 said:

He needs to realise that he does not need to get to every header first when the ball is in the middle of the park. There were a number of times he tried to get in front of the attacker and the ball went over his head

 

Let's just face it there's no 'realising' anything for Christophe at this stage. If the balls in the air anywhere near him he's going to go and try and head it isn't he. Used to get his head to those no problem. Be good if he can find enough in the tank to see out his Hearts career the right way. 

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

Like when Levein was manager, the club are refusing to face facts with Berra. Hard to understand why we’re persisting with a 35 year old who is way past his best. But it’s symptomatic of how poor we are at building and maintaining a good squad.

[stuart500]

I think Popescu prefers playing right CB so maybe would be better there. He's definitely not a right back though. 

 

Berra is still short of match practice so last night's game will have done him good. 

 

Would be interesting to see Popescu and Berra as a partnership ( with possibly Smith or Halkett as third man in a back three).

 

Longer term we will need to invest in replacements for these positions, but for this season where money will be extremely tight we should just have enough.

[GinRummy]

Thought he done fairly well last night. Nice to see him attempting to pass the ball out. 

 

We all know how shit he has been for ages, even those that won't admit it but he's part of the squad and he'd get a game ahead of Popescu if it was up to me.

[Deevers]

Looked far more like it last night. A full ninety minutes and a clean sheet must ha e done his confidence a bit of good. A fit on form Berra would be a certain start every week for me given the current squad.

[Harry Potter]

1 hour ago, KyleLafferty said:

Berra barely gave the ball away last night stop talking nonsense 😂. He barely hoofed it as well so clearly been told. I’m not a fan of his anymore, but we looked more solid, especially in the air.

Have to agree, passing along the deck was a better tactic.

[JyTees]

1 hour ago, KyleLafferty said:

Berra barely gave the ball away last night stop talking nonsense 😂. He barely hoofed it as well so clearly been told. I’m not a fan of his anymore, but we looked more solid, especially in the air.

 

😂🤣😂🤣😂

 

 

[TexasAndy]

Berra's best days are long gone but he has a contribution to make especially in this league.  He's the only CB we have that is good in the air at the back (Halkett is good in attack) and we may not have lost that second goal on Friday had he been there.  

[KyleLafferty]

20 minutes ago, JyTees said:

 

😂🤣😂🤣😂

 

 

Something funny? 

[Jamhammer]

Much better than last time out and I think the midfield looked more balanced/showed for the ball which helped. He's rusty, still but he's not the worst defender at the club. I'm happy enough that he is an option.  There will be games when he is put under pressure more than he was last night, the cup final for instance but, if we were somehow a goal up and under pressure late on   or even a goal down and going for it he's a great option

[Niemi’s gloves]

54 minutes ago, KyleLafferty said:

Something funny? 

i think you’re responding to someone who doesn’t get the idea of fair and balanced comment and is trying to pour scorn on anyone who disagrees with his negativity. 

[wavydavy]

51 minutes ago, Jamhammer said:

Much better than last time out and I think the midfield looked more balanced/showed for the ball which helped. He's rusty, still but he's not the worst defender at the club. I'm happy enough that he is an option.  There will be games when he is put under pressure more than he was last night, the cup final for instance but, if we were somehow a goal up and under pressure late on   or even a goal down and going for it he's a great option

 

I think he might be playing a bit more than a lot of us exppected given Popescu's performances of late.

 

I thought he looked decidedly nervous when he came on last night.

 

It would have helped him being put in at right back but his confidence looks shot which is proabably why Robbie was backing him in the press.

 

I really hope none of our CB's get injured because we don't seem to have much in the way of back up.

 

Maybe FF will know if we have any decent prospects in the reserves. I certainly don't know of any.

[BelgeJambo]

Looking at Halkett and Berra last night, you would think Halket is the one lacking match fitness.

 

 

 

 

[Cruyff]

Some short memories. You'd think Berra had never played at the level he did reading some of these posts. 

 

[Bull's-eye]

JKB has a poor record at recognising decent players but centre half is probably it's weakest link.

 

I'd rather have Danny Wilson in ahead of Berra. 

That's how bad Berra has become and anybody who watched his horror show last night will agree. 

[Des Lynam]

2 minutes ago, Bull's-eye said:

JKB has a poor record at recognising decent players but centre half is probably it's weakest link.

 

I'd rather have Danny Wilson in ahead of Berra. 

That's how bad Berra has become and anybody who watched his horror show last night will agree. 

Horror show    

[Randy Marsh]

1 minute ago, Des Lynam said:

Horror show    

He's trolling mate. 😂

[gorgieheart]

7 minutes ago, Bull's-eye said:

JKB has a poor record at recognising decent players but centre half is probably it's weakest link.

 

I'd rather have Danny Wilson in ahead of Berra. 

That's how bad Berra has become and anybody who watched his horror show last night will agree. 

 

Oh dear !

[Arry]

Berra was fine as he should be in this league.  What he needs is midfield to show when he has the ball so he doesn’t have to hoof it.   Haring  helps with this but we need more.